14 DAY TRIAL // The MMORPG we've all been waiting for over four years, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, is getting closer to its release date - on the 20th of May 2008 and that is a great thing. Still, the greatest surprise appeared when, according to videogaming247.com, game director Gaute Godager said that an Xbox 360 version is on the way and it will hit the Marketplace sooner that you would imagine (having in mind that we're talking about a game that took over 4 years to be developed, after all!). The big question may be asked right now: will this announcement influence one way or another the sales of the PC version? I know a few people who would rather wait for one year for an Xbox version, oh, you PC haters, you!
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' game director Gaute Godager sees the MMO ideal for the conversion to a Xbox 360 format. Speaking at the GDC presentation of the PC version, Godager went Molyneux and said that the system had worked through a number of technical difficulties in converting the traditionally PC-bound MMO format to console, and that the 360 version would include even more content than the already enormous PC version. At least we're not going to have billions of AI included, that's already taken.
Even though I am not excited at all to find out that the Xbox 360 version will have more content, even though it is a normal thing for any game that turns from exclusive to multi-format, I can't let Funcom's dedication go unnoticed. They have created a game inspired from the original Robert E Howard books and not the Arnold movies, although the latter would've been much easier and probably more catchy. Also, to spend 4 and a half years developing one game, just to make it perfect, is not a thing any developers would do (unless they are working on Duke Nukem Forever, of course).
But, since the Xbox 360 version will be released, if everything works as planned, in 2009 and the PC version is closer than never, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be for me a PC game. And I can hardly wait to see it run - especially the great engine that is able to render unique faces for every player, making it practically possible to recognize your friends by their faces.